Drivers have been warned as a change to yellow box junction rules could lead to an "avalanche" of fines.
Councils are set to be given more power against motorists from June 1. The "moving traffic" offences will give local authorities the power to punish drivers for stopping in yellow box junctions and performing bad turns.
At the moment, most councils are only able to send out penalties for parking and driving in bus lanes. The police are typically responsible for issuing "moving traffic" offence fines, apart from in London and Cardiff.
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However, the new powers will mean almost 300 councils in England will be able to apply for the right to issue these penalties as well. The RAC's head of roads policy has blasted the proposals and warned it could lead to motorists being unfairly punished by the new rules.
Nicholas Lyes said: “In the absence of definitive guidance on the design, maintenance and enforcement of box junctions there will be a high degree of confusion among drivers and local authorities, which could lead to an avalanche of penalty charge notices being wrongly issued and then having to be appealed.
“It’s absolutely crucial that yellow box junctions are enforced fairly and, as things stand, this may not be the case – which will mean many drivers will be treated poorly and lose out financially as a result.”
Yellow box junctions are designed to prevent gridlock at junctions, but research from the RAC found many motorists become trapped in the yellow boxes due to design flaws as "some are so poorly maintained that it’s hard to see where the yellow lines start and finish". The RAC has written to the Department for Transport and called on the government to improve their guidance to make it clear to local authorities what the minimum standard for design and condition of a box junction should be before letting enforcement begin.
Mr Lyes added: "We are worried that failing to update guidance to include the lessons learnt from more than 15 years of enforcement in London will lead to countless wrong fines being issued, no end of unnecessary stress for drivers who feel they have been unfairly treated and thousands of wasted council hours investigating appeals.
“It’s absolutely crucial that yellow box junctions are enforced fairly and, as things stand, this may not be the case which will mean many drivers will be treated poorly and lose out financially as a result.”
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